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Bobbie and the War 



By Bobbie's Father 



Issued by 

The Educational Committee 

of the Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce 

and by 

The Philadelphia School Mobilization Committee 



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PRESENTED TO THE 
SCHOOLS OF PHILADELPHIA 

BY THE 

PHILADELPHIA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE 

AND BY 

THE PHILADELPHIA SCHOOL MOBILIZATION COMMITTEE 



i 

©CU4G3318 



Copyright, 1917 

Eakins. Palmer & Harrar 

Philadelphia 



MAY -9 1917 



Bobbie and the War 

By Bobbie's Father 



BOBBIE is just an ordinary American boy. He is nearly fourteen and 
is about ready to enter high school. In scholarship he is below 
rather than above the average; but he is usually interested in his 
lessons, and his father is not worrying about his ability to make good. 
He enjoys sports, games and outdoor life, and like all true boys he 
loves to tinker with tools. He has shown an unusual affection for animals 
and will make a pet of anything from an antiquated hen to a tadpole. 

Perhaps it was his sensitiveness to the suffering of animals which led 
us to avoid talking about the Great War when he was near. Perhaps it 
was because we felt, like most American parents, that the War was 
monstrous, insensate, something too horrible to bring into the consciousness 
of a happy whole-souled boy of fourteen. We were thankful that a regula- 
tion of the local board of education forbade the discussion of the War in 
school rooms. And we tried to keep away from him the more terrible of 
the pictures which soon filled the illustrated papers. 

But in the two years of warfare he has grown to take an interest in 
things. At times he read the daily newspapers and looked through the 
illustrated weeklies. He became interested in the War in spite of us and 
occasionally dropped a remark which showed he was forming opinions upon 
it. He shared his spending money with the Belgians whenever the family 
took up a collection from the children's banks and the parents' bank accounts 
for relief work. 

And then like every normal American child he asked questions about 
the War. At first we put him off with those general colorless and neutral 
answers which parents are so skilled in framing. But we found that he 
was getting false notions of the War from other sources. We reached the 
conclusion that if we did not furnish the truth he might never get it. And 
thus we set about answering carefully some of his questions. Six of these 
questions and answers are here given. They are arranged in a logical order 
rather than in the haphazard conversation of family life. 



Bobbie and the War 



Why Is the War? 

"Well, Daddy, what made this War come anyhow?" he asked. 

There are two very different sets of causes of the present War, and 
indeed of any great happening in history. The one set of causes is like the 
spark that falls among gunpowder and makes a great explosion; the other 
set of causes explains how the gunpowder came to be where it was, and 
how the spark came to fall upon the gunpowder. 

The spark which set off the present terrible explosion in Europe was a 
little incident which took place in southeastern Europe. In the region 
between Vienna and Constantinople, which you can easily find on the map, 
there exist a score or more of different peoples. Each of these has its own 
language, its own dress, and its own habits of living. These peoples are 
included in a few great governments — Austro-Hungary, Servia, Roumania, 
Bulgaria and Turkey — with several smaller ones. During the year 1912 
several of these countries tried to obtain the lands of the non-Christian 
Turks, and after they defeated the Turks, the victors started to quarrel 
among themselves about the division of the lands. This gave the Turks an 
opportunity to get back part of their territory. During this time some 
of the less important peoples under the rule of Austro-Hungary also con- 
spired to obtain their independence. On June 28, 1914, an Austrian prince, 
the heir to the throne, was murdered in Serajevo, in a country much 
dissatisfied with Austrian government. An investigation by Austrians showed 
to their satisfaction that the murder had been planned in the neighboring 
country of Servia. 

Austria immediately made demands upon Servia which, if accepted, 
would have destroyed the independence of Servia and have tended to make 
it a province of Austria. The demands were accompanied with a threat 
that if not accepted in forty-eight hours, Austria would invade Servia. 
When this threat became known in Russia, the latter country took steps to 
protect Servia. Germany backed up Austria. England tried to get all 
parties to demobilize their armies and submit the Servian question to a 
council of all the great nations. This Germany and Austria refused to do 
and on August 1, 1914, war was declared by Germany against Russia. 
This at once brought France into the War as Russia's ally, and a few days 
later England entered on account of the German invasion of Belgium. Thus 
the murder of the Austrian prince was the spark which set on fire the vast 
European powder magazine. 



Bobbie and the War 



But you ask why was Europe so combustible that a single murder would 
set it all afire? Who laid the gunpowder in a place where the spark would 
reach it? To understand this, Bobbie, you would have to study carefully 
the history of Europe for the past hundred years. But there are a few 
things which you can understand. 

1. Years ago Germany adopted a system of universal military service 
which created a great standing army. This made the other countries so 
afraid of her that for protection they were compelled to maintain similar 
armies. Thus all of Europe, except England, became a kind of military 
camp; military leaders, particularly in Germany, directed the activities of 
the nations, and often prevented the people from governing themselves. This 
system, which is called militarism, is the thing which President Wilson 
says must be destroyed if all nations are to be free. 

2. Germany, like England and the United States, has grown enor- 
mously in wealth, manufactures and commerce in the last forty years. She 
secured a large part of the trade of the world and her ships, — some of the 
largest ever built, — were found in all the great harbors of the world. But 
Germany was not content with this peaceful trade; she desired foreign 
colonies and a great navy like that of England; she longed for coaling 
stations in all seas. If it had not been for the United States she might 
have obtained the Philippines in 1898; but for the United States she, with 
the other European states, would have brought about the partition of China 
in 1901; and but for the Monroe Doctrine she would have established 
colonies in the West Indies and South America. As it was she secured 
islands in the Pacific, in the East Indies and large tracts of land in Africa. 
With the consent of Turkey she started to build a railroad from Constanti- 
nople to Bagdad. During this expansion if Germany did not get what she 
wished she would show the "mailed fist" of her great army and rattle the 
sword in the scabbard. She would insult others as the German Admiral 
insulted Dewey in Manila harbor. Europe was in a state of unrest because 
Germany would not consent to reduce the size of her army nor cease building 
up a navy. Thus England felt compelled to build more ships ; France must 
add another year of military service to every man's life ; Austria, Russia and 
Italy joined in the race, and tried to keep up the pace set by the leaders. 

3. During this period of armed peace the six great nations of Europe 
fell apart into two groups of three each. Germany, Austria and Italy made 
what was called the "Triple Alliance" ; while England, France and Russia 
constituted the "Triple Entente" (the word entente is a French word 
meaning an understanding or agreement). The two groups stood and glared 



Bobbie and the Wah 



at each other like two gangs of toughs, each daring the other to do its 
worst. Sooner or later something would be said or done which would bring 
on a fight between the two groups. But note that when the Great War did 
break out, Italy left the Triple Alliance and joined the other group, which 
we now call "the Allies." 

4. There were many other things which led the European nations to 
be jealous of one another. France wanted to get back provinces which 
Germany had taken from her in 1870. Russia wanted to get Constantinople 
so that her wheat and oil could safely be exported. Germany wanted to 
control Constantinople and a railroad to Bagdad and the Persian Gulf, thus 
securing a share in the trade with India and China ports; Austria wished 
to annex some of the petty states to the southeast, and Italy hoped to annex 
territory near her borders inhabited by men of the Italian race. In America 
the question of a state's boundary or of the boundary of a county or city 
is submitted to the vote of the people; but in Europe, Germany, Austria 
and Russia were anxious to acquire new territory even if against the wishes 
of the people. 

You will see, therefore, Bobbie, that it was not the murder of a prince 
which really caused this War. It was the existence of a class of military 
men who controlled the governments of some of the powers; who refused to 
let the people decide great questions, and who hoped to use armies and 
navies to obtain more lands by conquest. 



Bobbie and the War 



Why Are We In the War? 

"Yes, Dad, I understand now how the War happened in Europe. But 
why did we go into it? We studied in school that Washington, Jefferson 
and Monroe advised the United States to keep out of European affairs. 
What has made us take up arms against Germany?" 

In the first place, Bobbie, you must remember that the American 
government is based upon the right of the people to govern themselves. 
Lincoln said we possessed "government of the people, for the people, and by 
the people." We believe that all people of all countries ought to have this 
right. And we are willing to help them obtain this greatest of all rights. 
Some people have said the American nation pays too much attention to 
making money and that it worships the "almighty dollar." But this is not 
true today and probably never has been true of our nation as a whole. 
Nearly a hundred years ago we sympathized with the people of Central and 
South America in their rebellion against Spain, and protected them by the 
Monroe Doctrine after they had obtained independence. 

In the last twenty years particularly the American nation has played 
the part of a "big brother" to many other peoples. In 1895 we protected 
Venezuela against the aggression of England. In 1898 we fought a war 
for the independence of Cuba and we have since aided in supporting an 
orderly self-government in the island. In 1898 we secured possession of 
the Philippines, and we have governed them since in the interests of the 
inhabitants, and have instructed them in the work of government so that 
some day they may become an independent nation. In 1901 we prevented 
the European nations from dividing up China. Our share of the indemnity 
exacted from China has been used to educate Chinese students in American 
universities. We have earnestly supported the new republic in that country. 
From 1912 to the present time we have tried to encourage the Mexicans 
to establish a people's government. American lives have been lost and 
millions of dollars' worth of American property destroyed in Mexico in this 
period during their civil wars. But we have not desired to conquer the 
country; we want them to establish a government which will bring liberty 
to all Mexicans and protection for all foreigners. In 1915 we opened the 
Panama Canal to the commerce of the whole world, not claiming for 
American vessels any advantages over foreign vessels, although our govern- 
ment furnished all the $250,000,000 necessary to build the canal. If you 
will remember these things you will understand how the United States 
stands today not only as the wealthiest country in the world, not only 
as the most democratic of great powers, but also as the friend of the 



Bobbie and the Wab 



oppressed and the willing helper of peoples striving for the same kind of 
liberty. 

But now to return to our entrance into this War. When the War 
started in August, 1914, most Americans were willing to follow the old 
advice of Washington, Jefferson and Monroe. They thought the War was 
Europe's business, not ours, and that we should keep out of the whole 
affair. But as the months of warfare dragged on and as unlawful acts and 
inhumane forms of warfare were used more and more by the Germans, the 
American people gradually realized that the War was an attack upon the 
rights of all liberty-loving peoples. The German military system (not the 
German people, but their Kaiser, their rulers and their military men) was 
seen to be a danger to all free governments. England, France, Russia, 
Italy, Servia, Belgium, Japan, Roumania, even little Portugal, were straining 
every nerve, sacrificing their ablest men, in the cause of human freedom. 
Should the United States enjoy the benefits when victory came to the 
Allies, and not raise a hand to help them in their life and death struggle? 
All the history of the last twenty years showed that it was the duty of the 
United States to leave its old narrow American policy and join the Allies 
in their efforts to destroy the evils of German militarism. 

You should note, Bobbie, and remember some of the acts of the 
Germans which led the American people at last to believe that this militarism 
must be crushed: 

1. The Germans invaded Belgium in order to advance upon France in 
a place where the French were not expecting attack. Germany did this 
despite the fact that she had solemnly promised to respect Belgium's lands. 
She violated "Belgium's neutrality" and treated her own promise as a "scrap 
of paper." 

2. The Germans occupied Belgium and northeastern France, and estab- 
lished a merciless government over the inhabitants. Atrocities of many 
kinds were inflicted upon the people; food supplies and cattle were taken 
away and the people would have starved by hundreds of thousands if 
energetic Americans had not collected money and supplies from other 
nations and dispensed them to the people under the eyes of the German 
military officers. Able-bodied men and women were dragged from their 
children and parents and sent to Germany to work almost as slaves for 
their conquerors. The world cannot soon forget the horrors of this military 
rule in Belgium. 

3. The Lusitania, an unarmed passenger steamer, was torpedoed by a 
submarine without warning on May 7, 1915, and eleven hundred and thirty- 



Bobbie and the War 



four men, women and children passengers and members of the crew lost 
their lives, of whom over one hundred were American citizens. 

4. Unarmed merchant vessels of the United States and of other 
neutrals were torpedoed without warning, and many innocent persons, in no 
way connected with the War, were killed in violation of international law 
and of the common principles of humanity. 

5. Germany issued an order to be effective February 1, 1917, that any 
vessel of any nationality found by her submarines within hundreds of miles 
of the European coast should be sunk without warning. 

6. She bombarded defenceless towns in England and France with 
warships and with Zeppelins, injuring mainly women and children. 

7. She organized bomb plots in the United States against American 
factories, and tried to involve us in war with Mexico and Japan. 

8. In general she tried to make her methods of warfare so terrible 
that her enemies would be frightened into submission. This is what the 
Germans call the policy of Schrecklichkeit (f rightfulness). 

These are horrible things to tell to a boy of your age, Bobbie, and we 
would not tell you about them were it not that you must understand how 
boys and girls in Europe and on peaceful vessels on the sea have been 
treated by this German war machine. You must not begin to hate the 
German people; and particularly you must treat respectfully and kindly the 
hundreds of thousands of law-abiding persons in this country who are of 
German birth or descent. We do not make war on the German people but 
upon those military rulers who have threatened to destroy all that other 
persons love and cherish. Out of pity for these oppressed peoples and out 
of fear for our own liberties we must unite with the other nations to stop 
this reign of lawlessness. 



Bobbie and the War 



A Different War from All Others? 

"I wish I knew what the newspapers mean by saying this War is 
different from other ones. Today there are guns and cannons and battles 
as in our Civil War. Is it really different?" 

Yes, Bobbie, looked at simply as warfare, this War is different from 
all that have preceded it. It is different in its worldwide extent. It has 
spread from Europe to the interior of Africa, to the Samoan Islands in the 
Pacific, to Bagdad, the city of the Arabian Nights, and to the American 
continents. No war in history was ever carried on over such a vast 
territory. 

It is different, too, in the number of people engaged. The total popu- 
lation of the countries now engaged in the war is almost one thousand 
million persons. The armies in the field in Europe today, numbering their 
millions of soldiers, are as numerous as the entire population of Europe a 
few centuries ago. The world never saw such armies, and indeed never 
before these days could such armies have been fed and equipped. 

It is very different, too, in the mode of warfare. All the great inven- 
tions of modern times have been turned into weapons of war. The powers 
of electricity and steam, of the automobile and aeroplane, of the steamship 
and the submarine, have been taken from peaceful pursuits for the killing 
of men. Science has discovered new and more powerful explosives, it has 
furnished suffocating gases and terrifying liquid fire. Great guns, with a 
range of twenty miles and firing projectiles weighing almost a ton, have 
been prepared. Armored automobiles — "tanks" — have been created. It is 
a war in which all these wonderful and useful inventions have become engines 
of destruction. 

It is different because of the prominence of trench warfare. Old 
battles were fought in the open with great masses of men. Today armies 
dig long defiles in the ground, with caves and alcoves and galleries like those 
in a mine. Every point is protected by machine guns which spit out a 
continuous line of bullets. For a long time it was almost impossible to 
reduce such trenches, but the Allies have found that by the use of enor- 
mously heavy guns and the expenditure of vast amounts of ammunition 
they can be rendered untenable. 

It is different in the use of aeroplanes. These are used not only for 
bombing expeditions, but also to photograph the enemy's trenches and to 
determine where the great guns, five or six or ten miles in the rear, shall 
direct their fire. Without the aeroplane the great gun would be almost 
useless against the trenches. 



Bobbie akd the War 



It is different in its use of the submarine. This has changed the 
character of naval fighting. A battleship while not underway can protect 
itself against submarines, but vessels plying the high seas, and particularly 
cargo and passenger vessels, cannot surround themselves with nets to 
catch torpedoes and at the same time proceed to their destination. They 
must take their chances and trust that a fleet of small submarine chasers will 
put most of the submarines out of business. In the hands of a ruthless 
enemy the submarine is a dangerous weapon. It can best be outwitted by 
small cargo boats such as those now being built by the United States 
Government. 

It is different in the enormous expenditures of money. The estimated 
expenses of all the warring nations for the first two years of the War were 
about fifty billions of dollars. The War expenditure for each day during 
this period was seventy-three millions, or enough to support the entire school 
system of Philadelphia for six years. 

But after all the War differs most in the elaborate manufacture of 
munitions and implements of war. In all the countries, back of the area of 
warfare, blast furnaces, steel plants, ship yards and equipment factories are 
working night and day to furnish materials for the armies and navies. All 
the great modern industrial plants have been turned over into munition and 
equipment factories. Able-bodied men are used where absolutely necessary, 
but the greater number of workers are old men, women and children. These 
are the ones who are preparing ammunition, clothing and equipment for 
their fathers and husbands on the firing line. 

It is indeed a fearful thing to contemplate this highly efficient national 
organization existing throughout Europe, with entire nations devoting their 
best thought and their greatest energy to producing weapons of destruction. 
We can only reconcile ourselves to the fact, Bobbie, by believing that this 
will never have to be done again. The destruction of militarism will be 
followed by the disarming of the great nations and by their return to lives 
of peace, comfort, charity and uprightness. For this we shall all hope and 
pray and work. 



10 



Bobbie and the Wab 



What Is Patriotism? 

"Our school teacher today asked us to define patriotism. We all said it 
meant love of country. Is that all there is to it, Daddy?" 

Yes, Bobbie, patriotism is love of one's country. It is a strong personal 
attachment which is as natural as to love one's mother. Nearly everyone 
shows this love for the country of his birth or adoption, and the very few 
who do not are abhorred as traitors, to be classed with persons who have 
no love or respect for their parents. But be sure of this, Bobbie, that love 
of one's country is not simply to love a particular part of the surface of 
the earth. You remember our old cat, Tabby, don't you? And how when 
the family moved to a neighboring house she would not go with us, but 
persisted in staying about the old place? True patriotism is not like that 
stupid place attachment of a cat or a hen. Nor is true patriotism simply a 
reverence for the nation's flag and a respect for the national anthem, although 
every patriot will show such reverence and respect. True patriotism includes 
love of place and love of the nation's emblems, but it includes far more 
than this. Its real essence is love and respect and appreciation for the 
nation's fundamental principles and ideals — the things which the American 
flag stands for. I mean, Bobbie, the great liberties which you and I possess 
in this country and which we would like to see all peoples possess. 

Among these liberties which we love as real American patriots, may be 
mentioned the right to self-government, the right to elect our own governors, 
the right to impartial justice in the courts, the right to a good education, 
the right to a fair opportunity to earn a decent livelihood, the right to 
protection from dangerous occupations, the right to protection from 
unscrupulous persons who would monopolize the necessities of life. These 
are some of the rights which, as American citizens, we enjoy, and because 
of them we love our country, its institutions and ideals. 

But remember this, Bobbie, that anyone who accepts these American 
rights and tries to live up to these American ideals, is a poor patriot indeed 
if he is content to enjoy these things alone. He is not a true American or 
a true patriot unless he is anxious and willing to share these great liberties 
with other peoples. It is because we wanted others to enjoy similar liberties 
that we have protected South and Central American republics, that we freed 
Cuba, that we established a representative government in the Philippines, 
and that we have entered this present War. 

You can readily understand, Bobbie, that love of one's country is 
something which drives us into action, it compels us to do things for the 
good of our country and the furtherance of its principles. You may never 



Bobbie and the Was 11 



know or appreciate all that your parents have done out of love for you; 
but you do realize that they are daily working to satisfy your needs for 
food, clothing, education and physical and moral well-being. You know, 
too, that your own love for parents and brothers and sisters leads you to 
many acts of kindness and helpfulness in the family. 

It is much the same with the true lover of country. His patriotism 
will show itself continuously in honesty in the payment of taxes, in intelli- 
gence in the election of able officers, in serving on juries, in refusing to 
monopolize necessities of life, and even in such simple matters as promptly 
cleaning snow off the sidewalk. 

In times of crisis patriotism may lead citizens to make great sacrifices. 
Your mother, Bobbie, risked her health and perhaps life, in nursing you 
during that serious illness last year. So when the nation needs help and 
assistance all citizens obey the call of duty, even, if necessary, giving life 
itself in order to preserve and protect the life and principles and inde- 
pendence of the country. I want to read you a few sentences from a book 
written by an Englishman for English boys and girls. Its statements apply 
with equal force to an American boy like yourself. 

"In all your study of the War, make this your first and foremost 
thought, that the War is for you. It is you who will enjoy the new order 
of things when the War is done. Your countrymen are giving their lives 
for their country ; it is your country, and in it you will pass your life. Our 
dead have died for you. . . . It is you who will find this world better 
than they found it. You will live in peace, because they died in war; you 
will go safe and free, because they went under discipline and into danger 
up to the moment of their death. You will have a good time, because they 
suffered. To you, who gain by their loss, and whose life is made comfortable 
by their lives laid down, comes the question, from countless little wooden 
crosses over graves in France and Belgium and Gallipoli, and from all the 
unmarked graves of the sea, Is it nothing to you? Why, the War is your 
War. You will enter into all that it achieves, and inherit all that it earns; 
and the miseries of it will be the making of your happiness. There are 
many good reasons why a man should fight for his country, but they come 
to this one reason, that he is fighting for the future of his country. And 
you are the future. We older people so soon will be gone; you will stay 
here, you for whom your countrymen today are in the toils of this War. 
You are the future, we are the past. We have lived in a world which you 
never saw, and you will live in a world which we shall never see." 

President Wilson, too, in his proclamation of April 15, 1917, showed 
how every part of our population should do something to support the 



12 Bobbie and the War 



Government in the present emergency. The army and navy must be built 
up and made efficient ; abundant food must be supplied not only for ourselves, 
but for the other nations in the common cause; shipyards, mines and 
factories must be made more productive; farmers should help by raising 
larger crops; middle men ought to show their patriotism by not asking 
unreasonable profits ; railway men should make their systems more effective : 
miners and manufacturers should appreciate how indispensable is their 
help, and housewives should practice economy. "The supreme test of the 
nation has come. We must all speak, act and serve together." 



Bobbie and the War 13 



What Qn I Do? 

"Daddy, when I see these men enlisting, — maybe they will be hilled in 
battle, — / am ashamed of myself for not doing anything for my country. 
Isn't there something I can do?" 

Yes, indeed, there is much that you as a boy of fourteen can do for 
our country. In the first place you must make yourself understand fully 
what our English friend has told us so well, that this War is being fought 
by the United States and the Allies for the rights of the boys and girls of 
these countries. Keep always before you the thought that the blood of these 
soldiers, the struggles of these armies, the endless workings of munition 
factories and the spending of untold millions of dollars are being used for 
the protection of your life and happiness. If you always keep this idea in 
mind you will find much to do for the country. 

You will, I am sure, Bobbie, appreciate how necessary it is that every 
American boy and girl make the very best of himself. It would be pitiful 
indeed, if, after all this bloodshed and suffering, you, the future citizens, 
should be weak in body, or ignorant in mind, or vicious in morals and 
religion. Your first and greatest duty today is to take all the advantages 
offered in the school, the home and the church, to make of yourself a strong, 
intelligent and honest citizen. Do not weaken your body by smoking 
cigarettes, or by doing anything else which will injure your health. Do 
not neglect your studies, for without intelligent citizens there can be no 
true democracy. Do not acquire bad habits or use vile language, for these 
will prevent your becoming a useful citizen. Eat good, plain, wholesome 
food, take plenty of exercise either in games or in farm labor if you are 
strong enough, get plenty of sleep and be regular and punctual in your 
habits and school work. This is your greatest duty today. 

Besides these things, Bobbie, you may, if you are strong enough, help 
your country in other ways. There is a great need of help in domestic life 
and upon farms and in factories. You are too young to do a man's part, 
and you must not weaken your body by undertaking too severe tasks. But 
you can help mother in the house, you can look after a small vegetable 
garden, or you can raise some chickens or pigs. If you help in this way 
about the home, the garden or the farm, you will give your parents and 
elder brothers and sisters more time and strength to do their heavier work 
for the country. When you read the morning papers and note what terrible 
sacrifices have been made for you, resolve that you will do something during 
the day to partly pay back the debt you owe these brave men and women. 



14 Bobbie and the War 



And if you look at the evening papers to see what progress has been made 
in the War, ask yourself the question, What have I done this day to help 
the great cause? 

You can show your patriotism, too, by avoiding all kinds of waste. 
Boys, and girls, too, are likely to be reckless and careless in the use of 
tools, household utensils, games, foods and clothing. If you are tempted 
to such carelessness and waste, just consider how many thousands of boys 
and girls in Europe have insufficient food and clothing, and remember that 
their parents have no money to buy games, tools and household goods. 
What you waste would probably keep some starving Belgian boy in sound 
health, protected from the cold and happy in disposition. Be careful, 
therefore, of your food, clothing and belongings. Just to the extent that 
you avoid needless waste will your parents and your country be enabled 
to help the other nations which are fighting for the same cause as ourselves. 

When you are old enough and strong enough, Bobbie, you should join 
some of the organizations of boys and girls for patriotic work. It is often 
easier and pleasanter for anyone to work with a group of congenial patriots 
than to try to do everything by himself. There are many such organiza- 
tions for junior citizens; sewing clubs, planting clubs, Boy Scouts, boys' 
clubs, Camp Fire Girls and junior associations in connection with patriotic, 
charitable and religious organizations. When your parents think you are 
able to do so it will be a good thing to join such bodies. 



Bobbie and the War 15 



The Last War? 

"Will this be the last War, Daddy? And how will quarrels be settled 
after the War is over?" 

Ah, Bobbie, those are questions which all the older and wiser heads are 
asking. Literally millions of people throughout this war-devastated world 
are hoping and praying every minute of the day and long into the sleepless 
night, that God and man will never permit such awful scenes to occur again. 
The greatest minds of the world are now trying to devise plans by which 
nations shall be freed from the terrors of militarism. 

When the military rule of Germany is overthrown, there will be, we 
believe, a world league of free, self-governing communities. Each will 
have its own national government based upon the will of the people, and 
all, we hope, will join in a league of republics to preserve the peace of the 
world. The commerce of the world will be free to all. When quarrels and 
controversies arise between nations, as they must at times, they will be settled 
by submission to a court of arbitration, in which the nations not involved in 
the quarrel will be the jurors, as in your games, Bobbie, you submit disputed 
points to the umpire. This is the hope of the American people. And this 
is something which you, as an American citizen, must strive earnestly and 
loyally to bring about. The world is looking to the United States to take 
the lead in the abolition of war. You must see that this ideal is preserved 
after it has been secured when this contest is over. 

As President Wilson said in his speech to Congress, on April 2, 1917, 
"We shall fight for the things which we have always carried nearest our 
hearts — for democracy, for the right of those who submit to authority to 
have a voice in their own government, for the rights and liberties of small 
nations, for a universal dominion of right by such a concert of free peoples 
as shall bring peace and safety to all nations and make the world itself at 
last free. To such a task we can dedicate our lives and our fortunes." 

Statesmen, business men, labor leaders, army generals and all thinking 
men are now actively engaged in trying to secure such a permanent peace 
for all the world. 

You, Bobbie, your brothers and sisters, your boy and girl friends, 
and all the unknown boys and girls in all the countries engaged in this war 
will live to enjoy the happiness and comfort of this universal peace. For 
you, boys and girls, we elders have fought and suffered and conquered. 



Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process 
Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide 
Treatment Date: erp 20U2 

PreservationTechnologie: 

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